Silverback beats his chest in the rain
Volcanoes National Park
Location
Guide
Patience
Recorded by
Nicole Robinson
Date
Summer 2022
He was quite comfy in his depression of foliage eating away
Safari scribbles:
Unforgettable experiences are seldom easy and this one was no different but if I had a choice I wouldn’t trade the experience of trekking through mud and stinging nettles or the variable weather of rolling mist to pouring rain for anything safe and comfortable. Somehow the journey to get to view the gorillas is as much of an experience as the sighting itself. The forest humbles me with its beauty and it’s brutality. At some points the vegetation was so thick that with the mist it felt like we were walking at night… our group was small but in just a few minutes I could lose sight of the person in front of me and my fragility and vulnerability was exposed. What an awesome way to be put back into my place on this planet.
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The reward for two and a half hours of navigating the most beautiful but brutal rainforest was a close encounter with the younger silverback in the Agasha (meaning special) family we trekked. We made it to the trackers just as it started pouring so we waited a bit as the gorillas also don’t like the rain and tend to seek shelter in the thicker parts of the forest. Then one of the trackers pointed out that the younger silverback was out in the “open” so we proceeded into the sighting … he was quite comfy in a depression of foliage eating away as we stood quietly and watched him … it wasn’t the open area I expected so we were about 5 metres from him with little room to move around. As we were watching I had my hand on a piece of bamboo to balance myself. He decided that he really wanted that piece of bamboo so approached us and landed up being 10 cm in front of me. It all happened really fast and our guide, Patience, was right behind me just saying “don’t worry”. Shortly after we were watching him look quite sorry for himself in the rain when he decided that he wanted to be where Jono was and amazingly Jono was able to video him expressing that while still holding onto his phone. I have no words to express the absolute joy that we felt.
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